All Saints' Night
by Wingleader Sora Jade
Summary: *Sequel to Visions of the Heart* Halloween brings back bad memories for Ryou. But Yugi and Yami are in trouble, time's been tangled, and there's nothing left to do but hope. *Chap 7 Up* Story's end! All gets resolved... Or does it?
1. A Vision of Terror

All Saints' Night 

by WSJ 

WSJ: *pounding her fists on the desk and chanting* Ma-lik! Ma-lik! Ma-lik! Yay! 

Ryou: *scoffs* What's your problem? 

WSJ: I finally got to see Malik-chan on TV! Battle City has officially started!!! *cheers* 

Malik: *preens* 

Bakura: Bu-But I was there too! 

WSJ: *eyes light up* Oh I know! *glomps* You were soooooo hot! *squeals* But what's with the cape thing? 

Bakura: The what? 

WSJ: Everytime a yami takes over from a hikari, their coat flies out into a cape. *scratches head* Does that mean Seto Kaiba is actually a yami, since there is no human way that his coat is supposed to be like that? 

Ryou: You're forgetting the other Law of Yami-Hikariness. His hair isn't spiked. 

WSJ: *nods sagely* Ah, right. Any yami's hair must be twice as spikey as the hikari's. I only have two rants about this otherwise perfect episode. First, does anyone besides me think that the coach person looks disturbingly like Tristan? And second, what the heck was up with Malik's voice?!? It sounds like he got kicked in the nuts! 

Malik: *sweatdrop* Shut up, will ya'? 

WSJ: *shrugs* Whatever. This is the second story in what is now a trilogy! *cheers* **The Unseeing Hearts Trilogy**! It started with _Visions of the Heart_ (VotH), moves on to this one, _All Saints' Night_ (ASN), and finishes with _Sacrifice of Shadows_ (SoS). Actually, I may end up doing something after SoS, but for now it's a trilogy. 

Ok, a couple basic facts. This takes place two months after VotH, and one month before SoS. Ryou is still blind, Bakura is still mortal. The rest, I think, I state in the chapter. ^_^ Have fun! 

Credit for the inspiration for a couple minor plot details goes to Elanor Pam. She sent me an incredably long and in-depth e-mail. One of her ideas I eventually (with the help of a freaky dream I had on the bus on the way home from our missions trip yesterday) morphed into the "Web of Time" chapter. 

A couple things I left hanging in VotH should be explained in this. ^__^ Enjoy! 

()()()()() 

All Saints' Night 

Chapter 1: A Vision of Terror 

"Ryou?" 

"Hm?" 

"I'm sorry..." 

Sitting up from where he'd been flopped on the couch, Ryou put a hand on his yami's shoulder. "Bakura, that was a year ago. All's been forgiven." 

Bakura stared sullenly down into his lap. "Yeah, by you, but what about the others?" 

Ryou sighed. "You'll have to ask them yourself. I can't grant forgivness if it isn't mine to give." 

Both teens sat at home in a darkened livingroom, trying to ignore the happy shouts coming from outside. Tonight was Halloween, or All Saints' Night, and most of the population of Domino City who were under twenty-one were out on the streets, begging for candy. 

For Ryou and Bakura, this night just brought back unplesent memories of the year before, when they'd been at the Duelist Kingdom on this very night, October 31. 

Ryou sighed at his yami's silence and settled back onto the couch, half-asleep with bordum. Most of the lights in the house were off so that no trick-or-treaters would come. Not that that really made a difference for Ryou... 

Suddenly, through the darkened corridors of his mind, a picture suddenly flashed in full, living color, accompanied by a scream of terror. Ryou only had time to glimpse the look of pure horror on Yugi's face before the vision was gone, as quickly as it had come. 

He became aware suddenly of Bakura's hands on his shoulders, frantically shaking him. "Ryou!" 

"I-I'm okay..." Ryou said, taking a deep, yet shaky, breath. 

Bakura didn't remove his hands from his hikari's shoulders, and was silent a moment. "What did you see?" 

Over the past two months, since Ryou had lost his physical sight, they'd slowly begun to realise that he possessed something more, almost an internal sight. So far, his visions had been few, far between, and only vaguly accurate. Things like seeing his dad come up the driveway five minutes before he did, or that a teacher was going to give a pop quiz. 

"I-I saw..." Ryou took another deep breath. "Yugi. He looked like he was in trouble, maybe hurt." 

Bakura looked at him in concern. "Are you sure aibou?" 

Ryou nodded. "We have to help him! I don't know where Yami was, I didn't have but a glimpse." 

"Alright hikari, let's go." 

()()()()() 

WSJ: Yeah, short, but it'll get better. 

Chapter 2: Bakura and Ryou arrive in a dark alley, where Yami is fighting with... Kuroi Karasu? But isn't he dead? Kuroi sends Ryou and Bakura into a dream-world, forced to relive last years Halloween over and over... Will it tear their fraglie bond appart to be forced to remember that night? 


	2. Scattered

WSJ: Most of Bakura's dream, of Ancient Egypt, was inspired by Sunfalling's poem _Tomb Robber_. I know that's not the name you look it up by, because she has it as part of a collection. *scratches head* I think it might be under "Lost Words" or "Words Lost" or something like that... 

Ryou: And my dream was inspired by, of all things, KidsWB... *sweatdrops* Are you sure you didn't mis-type the script there 'SJ? 

WSJ: Nope, I didn't. I'd been waiting to see "Evil Spirit of the Ring" for forever and a day, and then, _finally_, KidsWB shows it... On Halloween. And that's what at first struck this story into my mind. I was always going to write something like this, about Ryou thinking back to that night and suddenly realizing that it was Halloween, but I never fig'ured I'd end up working it in with VotH and SoS. *shrugs* 

Bakura: Um, 'SJ, didn't you forget the disclaimer last chapter? 

WSJ: *gasps* I did! Oh no! Ah, I'll just say it here! I don't own YGO, but Briar-Rose and Kuroi Karasu (and Jonathon, but I doubt he'll be in this) do belong to me. 

()()()()() 

All Saints' Night 

Chapter 2: Scattered 

"Bakura, how are we supposed to find them?" 

Bakura looked over at Ryou, who was close to tears with worry, and was glad that his hikari couldn't see his scowl. If it weren't for Ryou being worried, Bakura would have just left the Pharoah and his idiotic hikari to their fates! 

"I don't know aibou," he said through tightly-clenched teeth. Just because he was now protective of his hikari instead of abusive didn't mean he was suddenly best friends with Yami-Yugi. 

Ryou and Bakura had been on the streets of Domino for a little over ten minutes, trying to find Yugi and Yami. They'd first gone to the Game Shop, but Mr. Moto had informed them that the two were out trick-or-treating. 

"Bakura," Ryou said quietly. "I could try to get the Ring to find them." 

Bakura looked at him in surprise. "You still wear it? It's useless without me inside," 

Two months before, when Ryou and Bakura had been pulled out of the Shadow Realm by Yami-Malik's spell, Bakura had been inadvertently evicted from the Ring, and turned mortal. 

Ryou was silent for a moment. "Not entirely, I think it may still be able to sense other Millenium Items." 

"Try it," Bakura said. "We've got nothing to lose." 

Ryou pulled the Ring out from under his shirt and concentrated on it. Its power was seriously deminished without Bakura, but it did still carry some weight. After all, it had been able to pull Seto Kaiba's soul out of the Shadow Realm. It had grown weaker since then, but hopefully it could do this simple task its bearer was asking of it. 

"Please..." Ryou whispered. "Onegai, Ring... Show me where the Puzzle is..." 

A slight shudder passed through the golden artifact, as if it were waking from a long sleep. It began to glow feebly, and one of the spikes around the edge moved sluggishly to point east. 

Bakura let out a small smile, and gently took hold of his hikari's wrist to guide him. "Come on Ryou, it's working." 

After about ten minutes of playing follow-the-Ring, Ryou's ears, made sensitive by his blindness, heard something in the dark. He clutched at Bakura's arm to hold the ex-yami back. 

A moment later Bakura heard what his hikari already had. Somewhere up ahead, very close, was the sound of soft cries and raspy breathing. 

"There's a lot of mental talking going on," Ryou said softly, shrinking down behind his yami instinctivly. "I can sense it, but I can't tap into it. It must be Yami and Yugi." 

Bakura nodded, and moved toward the mouth of the alley where he had identified the sounds as coming from. He was surprised when Ryou grabbed at his sleeve. "Please be careful Bakura! Something bad is going to happen!" Poor Ryou was almost in tears. "I can feel it! Please be careful! Onegai!" he pleaded. 

Bakura smiled softly and pried his hikari's hands off his shirt. "I _will_ aibou, stay here." He crept closer to the alley and peered in. What he saw nearly made him choke. 

Yami stood with his back to the back wall of the dead-end alley, Yugi held protectivly behind him. Bakura was rather disturbed to see a slight glimmer of fear in the pharoah's eyes. 

In front of the two Motos, with his back to Bakura, stood a man. He was tall, and what Bakura could see of his clothes and white-ish hair were dirty and stained. 

Yami looked up from the man and gasped when he saw Bakura, causing said man to whirl around. 

Bakura was amazed to find that he was facing... Himself. True, this imposter's hair was longer then his own, and his eyes were wider set and green. And glowing. Uh oh. 

"Who might you be?" Bakura asked, backing up a step and trying to keep a smirk on his face for the benefit of Yugi and the pharoah. Really though, this was seriously freaking him out. 

The look-alike sneered at him. "Name's Kuroi, pleasure to meet you." he said sarcasticly, and the voice was definatly not Bakura's. 

From his place behind Yami, Yugi's eyes widened. "But you're dead! Yami and Yami-Malik killed you after you threw Seto Kaiba out the window!" 

Kuroi's sneer grew and morphed into a smirk. "I know. Isn't it fun how so many supernatural things happen on Halloween?" He turned slightly to look past Bakura, out into the dark street beyond the alley. "Isn't that right, Ryou?" 

There was a muffled squeak from the white-haired hikair, and Bakura's eyes widened. "Ryou! Don't you dare hurt my aibou, Kuroi!" 

"Oh, but I already have," Kuroi said, letting out a fittingly demonic laugh that sent shivers down Bakura's spine. 

Forgetting about Yami and Yugi for the moment, Bakura pivoted on his toes and ran for where he'd last seen Ryou. There he lay, in a rumbled white heap on the ground. Bakura let out a soft cry and dropped to his knees, feeling desperatly for a pulse. It was there, yet faint. 

Out of sight behind him, Kuroi raised a hand to point at Bakura, muttering a few words in Egyptian. With a rather startled-sounding thump, Bakura landed in the dirt next to Ryou. 

"Ryou! Bakura!" Yugi yelled, trying to get out of Yami's grip and run to his friends. "Let me go Yami!" 

"No aibou," Yami said through gritted teeth. "I will not have you suffer the same fate. Not for a tomb robber." 

"And what about Ryou?" Yugi asked, "You would have _him_ die?" 

Yami closed his eyes, wishing he didn't have to say what he was going to. He tightened his hands on Yugi's shoulders. "Yes, if that's what it takes to keep you safe. You mean so much more to me then anyone else Yugi, you are my first priority, and you know that." 

Yugi felt hot tears in his eyes as he stared around his yami at the still forms of Ryou and Bakura. They just couldn't be... "What did you do to them Kuroi!?!" he asked, his shoulders shaking with sobs. "Tell me!" 

Kuroi turned back to them with an insane light glimmering in his eyes. "Nothing that you won't soon be experiencing yourself!" he said. "I sent them back in time, to relive their most cruel memory, again and again, for all of eternity!" A deep laugh, one of pure sadism, emmerged from his throat, causing Yugi to bury his face in Yami's shoulder out of instict. 

"You monster!" Yami yelled, coining Seto Kaiba's oft-used phrase. "I killed you once, and I'll do it again!" He pulled away from Yugi and leaped at Kuroi, his fists balled up and ready to pummel the other spirit into oblivion. 

Yugi let out a scream as he watched the two go down, his eyes wide. "YAMI!!!" 

The green-eyed demon and purple-eyed pharoah pulled away from each other, each backing up a step and breathing hard. Without warning, however, they froze, and the world faded to a million shades of blue and grey. Yugi stood stock-still with his mouth open, and then slowly moved forward, reaching out a hand to touch Yami's shoulder. 

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." 

Yugi jumped and whirled around to see a tall man dressed in long grey robes. His face was young and clean-shaven, but his blue eyes looked infinatly old. It was like he had appeared out of no-where, standing right where Yugi had been a moment before. 

"Wh-why not?" Yugi asked, swiping at his teary eyes with a sleeve. 

The man gave him a kind smile and kneeled down to his level, offering him a kleenex. "It would take too long to explain. My name is Lobsang, and I need your help, Yugi Moto." 

"My help?" Yugi asked, taking the tissue gratefully. "What can I do? And what did you do? To Yami and Kuroi, I mean." 

"I stopped time for everyone but us." Lobsang paused, and frowned slightly. "Or rather, I sliced time. Even I have my limitations." He could see the question forming behind Yugi's eyes and answered it ahead of time. "Think of it as that we're moving really, really fast, or that those two are moving really, really slow." 

Lobsang paused again, and shook his head, his shoulders slumping a little. "The Web of Time has been scrambled, and I'm too busy dealing with the after-effects to take the time and untangle it. Things are coming back that never should have been in the first place." He gestured to the two frozen spirits. "Like Kuroi." 

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked. "What's the 'Web of Time'? And how can _I_ help?" 

"Your Millenium Puzzle has the power that we need. The Web of Time is, well, it's a little hard to explain until you see it. Basicly it keeps time going the right direction, making sure the past leads into the future. But someone's tangled it, making the past and future cross in ways they were never ment to. Thus, Kuroi is back from the graveyard. That is also what gave him the power to make your two friends relive their memories. The past has never been closer then it is now." 

Yugi sighed, one hand moving unconciously to the heavy gold artifact around his neck. "It's always the Puzzle, isn't it? And what do you mean, 'we'?" 

Lobsang didn't answer, but stared at him for a very long time. Finally he blinked slowly, and seemed to come back to reality. "Myself and two friends are trying our best to get everything back to the way it's supposed to be. But Lu-Tze and Susan and I just aren't enough. We need more help." He looked again at Yugi, almost pleading. "Please, you are the only one strong enough." 

Yugi looked back at Ryou and Bakura laying motionless on the ground, and then to Yami. "If I do, everything will be all right again?" 

Lobsang nodded. "That's a promise." 

Yugi took a deep breath, and then set himself for whatever would happen next. "M'kay, let's go." 

()()()()() 

WSJ: *grins* I don't own Lobsang or Susan or Lu-Tze. They belong to the almighty Terry Pratchett. *giggles* I'm sorry, but I needed Time, and I really couldn't help but stick Lobsang in there... *rubs the back of her head sheepishly* Reviews onegai! 

Chapter 3: Ryou gets swept back a year, to a Halloween he hoped to never remember... Between his yami taking over and dueling Yami in the Shadow Realm, Player Killer's attack, and the beating that followed, it really wasn't a good night for Ryou, and now he has to watch it again, and realize that he was betrayed... Can he ever trust Yami and Yugi again after he realizes what they did that night, or rather, what they didn't do? 

God bless minna-san! 


	3. Betrayed by Comrades

WSJ: Poor, poor Ryou... *sniffles* This is almost as bad as the infamous Chapter 14 of VotH! *sniffles again* Brood made me give Zutso-koi back!!! *bursts into tears* 

Ryou: What? 

WSJ: I kidnapped Zutsokaki the other day, but Brood made me give him back! 

Bakura: She _did_ pay the ransom 'SJ. Twice. It's only fair. 

WSJ: Well yeah, but I wasn't actually planning on returning him! 

Ryou & Bakura: -.-;; Riiight... 

Bakura: WSJ doesn't own YGO. 

//....// Yami to Yugi 

/..../ Yugi to Yami 

()()()()() 

All Saints' Night 

Chapter 3 -- Betrayed by Comrades 

Ryou groaned slightly, wondering what had hit him. The sound of voices nearby made him freeze, and he slowly took stock of his surroundings. He was laying on the ground, apparently in a forest somewhere by the feel of wet leaves under his hands and the dirt that was undoubtably getting in his hair. 

As quietly as he could he reached out with his hands to feel around him. To his left was the trunk of a tree, and to the right a screen of bushes. The voices seemed to be coming from the other side. 

Ryou turned his head so that he could breathe easier and so his face wasn't burried in mud. That caused him to gasp, before quickly putting a hand over his mouth. He could _see_! 

Well, not exactly. It was like when he had a vision, everything was inside-out. But usually that vision-sight only lasted for a second or two. Now he could see clearly. Well, as clearly as you could with the colors reversed. 

(A/N: Ok, I'll try to explaint that a bit better. It's like when the Dark Magician uses his Dark Magic Attack. You know, everything that's white is black, and black is white? Ok, just imagine that Ryou's seeing in those dimentions.) 

He pulled his legs under him and got to his knees, peeking out between the bushes. What he saw made him gasp again. He _remembered_ this! 

Ryou let out a muffled sob and backed away until his back came in conact with the tree trunk. He collapsed against it and pulled his knees up to his chest, burrying his face in his hands. But still, he could see what was happening in the clearing just before him. It was like he couldn't get away from it, no matter how tightly he closed his eyes. 

It registered in the very back of his mind that the reason was because he wasn't seeing with his eyes, but with his mind and heart, so it didn't matter whether his physical eyes were opened or closed. 

But at the moment poor Ryou was too terrified to think, even though he knew that this had to be a dream, or a flash-back of some sort. 

On the other side of the bushes, in a clearing, was a campsite. In the center was a dying fire, and four people lay in sleeping bags around it. Tea, Joey, Tristan, and Yugi were sleeping peacefully, content in their own dreams. 

It was Halloween night, one year ago. This was the Duelist Kingdom, and this was the night that Ryou had remembered with shivers of terror ever since. Just a few hours before, Yami-Yugi and Bakura had dueled in the Shadow Realm for the souls of Yugi, Ryou, and their friends. Player Killer had just attacked, and been defeated, and now everyone but one were asleep, exhausted. 

(A/N: I'm using Player Killer instead of Panik because Panik, like many other dubbed names, is sooooo lame...) 

Ryou, the Ryou of that night, was wide awake, and terrified. His yami towered over him, his eyes narrowed and menacing. Present day Ryou watched in absolute rapture, terror washing over him in waves. This was the second worst beating he had ever received, and he did _not_ want to relive it, but it seemed he was given no choice in the matter. 

(A/N: I know, I'm interrupting again... -.-; From now on, when I'm talking about the present day Ryou, the one that is blind and a telepath, I'll put *stars* around his name, so we don't get confused with past Ryou, whom *Ryou* is watching. 'Kay? ^^; Sorry if it's too confusing... I'm also going to call past-Bakura, the one *Ryou* is also watching, by Yami-Bakura, instead of just Bakura, who is our present-Bakura and no longer a yami. Got it?) 

Yami-Bakura grabbed the trembling Ryou by the collar and hauled him out of his sleeping bag, dragging him up so that their noses were an inch apart. "You thought you could betray me?" the yami hissed. "You thought you'd be cheeky and help out Yugi, didn't you? Well, now you'll pay up." 

In his sleeping bag, Yugi muttered something in his sleep, and Yami-Bakura looked sharply at him before turning back to Ryou. "Oh yes, you will pay for that, little hikari." 

*Ryou* winced, along with his past-self, at Yami-Bakura's harsh words. He whimpered and huddled further into himself, but still the vision invaded his mind. He wished Bakura were there with him. The kind Bakura, the one who helped him, not this monster of the past, whom he was being forced to look opon again. 

Yami-Bakura scowled and glanced around the clearing, still holding Ryou by the collar. He then dragged the white-haired teen through the bushes until they came upon another small clearing, empty and well out of ear-shot from the camp. He threw Ryou on the ground and delivered a sharp kick to his side, causing the hikari to cry out. 

Yami-Bakura sneered, and kicked him again, harder this time. "You are my slave _aibou_, and you will not forget it! I will make sure you do not betray me again!" 

The "betrayal" he was talking about was, of course, when Ryou had used his powers as the Change of Heart card to take over Yami-Bakura's Lady of Faith, instead of Yugi's Dark Magician, thus ensuring Yami-Bakura's defeat earlier that night. 

"No..." Ryou whimpered, trying to pull himself up to his hands and knees. "Yugi sealed you away! Why are you back?" Tears dripped down his face, mixxing with the dirt on the ground to create small splatters of mud. 

"Why?" Yami-Bakura asked, his voice mocking. "Why, to make your life a living hell, of course! And as for Yugi's stupid other sealing me away..." He reached down and grabbed Ryou by the hair, pulling him upright. "I am darkness, and darkness always finds a way back. After the sun sets, the darkness defeats the light, driving it back, breaking it, scattering it in a million different directions. I will do the same to you, _hikari_." 

With that said he threw Ryou back to the ground and grabbed a heavy branch that was laying under a nearby tree. Yami-Bakura snarled and raised it over his head, bringing it down on Ryou's back and causing him to cry out in pain. Yami-Bakura lifted Ryou by the hair again and threw him against a tree, causing a sickening crunch to echo through the clearing. 

*Ryou* suddenly became aware of mental conversation going on somewhere near him, and stretched out his senses as best he could to tap into it. It hit him in the face that whoever it was, and he knew who it was, were talking about him. Casting his "eyes" around him, he saw the short figure huddled a good distance away, peeking through the bushes. 

*Ryou* felt another sob tear at his throat. 

He'd been betrayed. 

(WSJ: I was gonna end it there, but I desided that if I did then both this chap and the next would be too short, so I combined them into one.) 

/Spirit! We have to help Ryou!/ 

//We can do nothing Yugi, nothing that won't make Yami-Bakura hurt him farther.// 

/But we can't just sit here! He's in pain! Spirit, he'll _die_!/ 

//No aibou, he will not. I can make sure of that, at least. But trust me as you usually do. We can do nothing for Ryou right now. We must wait, hikari, I will _not_ have you put yourself in danger for him, even if he is your friend.// 

/But-/ 

//Do not question me Yugi, I know best, trust me.// 

/. . .All right, Spirit. . ./ 

With a sickening jerk, *Ryou* felt like he was being pulled in two. He let out a startled cry, and felt a hand over his mouth. "You're safe Ryou," the voice of Yami-Yugi said next to his ear. "Don't worry, you're back in our time, where you belong." 

Ryou realised that he couldn't see anymore, not even in his reversed-vision, which made him feel oddly better. Darkness was much more welcome then watching his yami beat his past self up. With a shivering sort of cry he backed away from Yami, and felt the spirit's surprise. 

"Ryou?" 

That voice was Yugi's, Ryou thought with a sad sense of loss, thinking back to what he had just discovered about that horrible night one year ago. "Y-You! You betrayed me!" 

"Betrayed you?" Yugi asked, puzzlment evident in his voice. "I just saved your life!" 

Ryou took a deep, shuddering breath, and, fueled by anger he didn't know he carried, he reached deep into his heart for the power he needed. Tears dripped down his cheeks from his pale eyes, and a white aura began to surround him. "You left me! You left me alone with that monster! How could you do that, how could you watch me moan and wince the next morning, and pretend you didn't know? How could you do that and still dare to call yourself my friend!?" He was now levetating at least two feet off the ground, and Yugi and Yami had backed away from him, their eyes wide. 

"How could you!?!" In one mighty burst of white light, Ryou released all the anger and frustration and sadness he had pent up inside. Anger at realising that Yugi and Yami had left him to his beatings. Anger that he was nothing at all of worth, thoughts that were residue of Ushio's tauntings two months before. Anger that now he could never be what he wanted, and his destiny was forever changed. 

After that flash, everything went black. 

()()()()() 

WSJ: *giggles* Suspence!!! I love it!!! I think I'm being influenced by _Eye of Horus_, this really awesome suspence/mystery novel I'm reading. If you like drama and ancient Egypt, I really recomend it. It's by Carol Thurston. 

Chapter 4: Hold it! Back up a bit! Bakura's just been downed, and now he's experiencing a flash-back of his own. Will it hurt too much to remember his wife and the daughter he had to give up? And what of the Pharoah, and his brother Jonathon? (Builds on what I hinted at during chapters sixteen and seventeen of VotH.) 

God bless minna-san! 


	4. Giving It Up

WSJ: *sighs and rubs her eyes* I'm soooooo sleepy... I'm gonna type as much of this as I can, and then go to BED! 

Ryou: 'SJ doesn't own YGO, but she does own Anjil, Shahi, and Jonathon. 

WSJ: ^__^ Wai! Brood and Zutso-koi are coming to my house for Christmas!!! *dances around* Yay! *stops dead in her tracks* Oh no! What am I gonna get them for Christmas?! What to get Zutso-koi... What to get Brood-chan... *runs off to ponder* 

Okay, there was someone who asked about Yugi's appearence in the last chapter... That was past Yugi. Not present Yugi, who _did_ go with Lobsang. ^_^ Jus' clearing that up. 

()()()()() 

All Saints' Night 

Chapter 4 -- Giving It Up 

The first thing he noticed was sand, and the second was the almost unbearable heat on his back. He pushed himself to his hands and knees and extablished his sence of balace before even trying to open his eyes. When he did, he gasped. He was home! 

Bakura scrambled to his feet, kicking sand in every direction. He stared in awe at the wide blue river ahead of him, and the spralling stone buildings on the other side. Thebes! Or Luxor, as it was called in the twenty-first century. This was where he'd been born and raised! But, how... 

A startled cry off to the left of him got his attention, and he turned in that direction. Someone was racing across the sand, several other someones chasing after him. Bakura blinked, and his jaw dropped as he recognised himself, his wife Anjil cradled in his arms as he ran from the Egyptian guards. 

Neither past-Bakura, Anjil, nor the guards seemed to notice him, and ran right past him without a second glance. Without a thought, Bakura followed them. He caught up with himself in the shade of one of the bigger buildings, the guards seemingly off their trail. 

Past-Bakura gently set his wife on the ground, and she cried out in pain again, clutching at her swollen belly. 

Bakura gulped, remembering what came next. He stood just behind his past self, but still neither past-Bakura, nor Anjil took any notice of him. Bakura desided that that was because they _couldn't_ see him. 

"Anjil, _meri_," past-Bakura asked desperatly. "Are you all right?" 

Anjil looked up at him, her long blond hair falling into her eyes. "I-I do not know Bekhura, but the baby comes." 

(WSJ: If you've read VotH, you'll have already known that Bakura's name in Egypt was Bekhura. So from now on past-Bakura is Bekhura, and present-Bakura is Bakura, okay?) 

A paniked look came over Bekhura's face. "Anjil, I don't know the first thing about child-birthing!" 

Anjil groaned slightly as another contraction shook her frame. "You must find some way, or the babe and I will both perish to Osirus!" 

"_Sunu_, I need a _sunu_...." Bekhura muttered, looking around with wild eyes, fear for his beloved gripping his heart. 

(WSJ: All the Egyptian I use is translated in the end notes, so skip down there to see it.) 

"Tenre lives near here," Anjil said, and Bekhura snapped to attention. 

"You would risk our freedom like that?" he snapped. 

"Do you see any other way?" Anjil countered, glaring at her _meri_. 

Bekhura sighed, shook his head, and bent to lift his wife from the hot ground. She groaned slightly, and Bekhura shifted his grip, trying to make her more comfortable. He then started off to the man known as Tenre. 

When he reached the appointed house, he glanced either way and then shouldered the door open. Although he already knew all that would happen, Bakura could not help but follow them inside. 

Tenre stared at Bekhura, and then his gaze hurredly shifted to the woman in his arms. "Set her down on the bed Bekhura," he sighed, standing up to gather his instruments. "I will see to her and the child." 

Bekhura nodded thankfully. "I thank you Tenre. I shall pay you generously from the very next tomb we rob." 

Tenre shot him a look and set his jaw. "Make no mistake Bekhura, it is not for you I do this." He gestured at Anjil. "It is for my sister. And I will not take any part in your spoils. It is better I do my work for free, then be paid from stolen goods." 

Bekhura shrugged. "Suit yourself, brother of my wife." 

Bakura, who was lounging invisibly in the corner, smiled slightly as other memories of his brother-in-law came flooding back. Beating him in swimming races in the Nile, daring him to slap the High Preist on the butt as he walked past them, the time he and Jonathon had pushed Tenre into the Queen's bathing pool, while they stayed safely conceiled in a bed of rushes by the pool's edge. 

Bakura's face abruptly darkened at thoughts of his twin. He snorted as he thought of Jonathon and Pegasus, wandering the Shadow Realm as he'd left them two months ago. Not that they didn't deserve it... 

Here Bakura paused. Just why _did_ he hate his brother so much? Standing here, in the corner of Tenre's house, he could easily see the bond between said _sunu_ and Anjil. So why was it that he and Jonathon could never get along? 

He could almost grasp it, on the very corner of his mind... But he couldn't remember. No matter how hard he tried. 

A soft cry brought him back to Egypt, and he stared in slight awe as Tenre handed the small baby girl to Anjil, although he had seen this scene before. Abruptly Bakura felt a tug on his heart, and tears stung the corners of his eyes, dispite himself. His daughter, Shahi.... 

He watched with a kind of detached sadness as Anjil and Bekhura exchanged glances. "We cannot keep her," Anjil said quietly. 

Bekhura shook his head. "You're right. Here, I shall take her where she shall be loved." He picked up his newborn daughter and stole out of the house. It was common knowledge that Pharoah Yami had been unable to get any of his wives pregnant, and desperatly needed an heir. Bekhura knew that his little daughter would be well cared-for at the palace, and Anjil was right. No child should grow up in the desert with tomb robbers for parents. 

Bakura did not follow his past self, already knowing where he went. He stayed, instead, to gaze for a few more precious moments on his wife, his beloved Anjil. How he missed her in Ryou's time... 

The white-haired ex-yami felt tears prick his eyes, and realized they were running down his face as well. This was the third time he had cried in little over five thousand years. The first had been when he'd first seen Ryou after Ushio's beating, and the second just when he'd realized that Ryou's mother was his Anjil reincarnated, the third now, as he re-witnessed the birth of his daughter. 

There was a particularly hard jerk in his heart, almost as if it were trying to pull its way out of his chest, and then Bakura was suddenly back in the alley, staring at Yami. 

"What happened Pharoah?" he growled, trying to regain lost composure as quickly as possible and praying to every god he could think of that Yami wouldn't notice the tears on his cheeks. 

Yami looked vaguly puzzled himself. "I do not know, I-" The Pharoah paused as beside Bakura, Ryou groaned slightly. The white-haired teen then jerked into a sitting possition, his unseeing eyes wide. He let out a strangled cry and Yami put a gentle hand over his mouth, causing Bakura to stiffen. "You're safe Ryou," Yami said quietly. "Don't worry, you're back in our time, where you belong." 

The white-haired hikari jerked away, and Yugi, who was behind his yami, blinked in surprise. "Ryou?" 

"Y-You betrayed me!" Ryou gasped, tears streaming from his pale eyes. 

"Betrayed you?" Yugi asked, clearly puzzled. "I just saved your life!" 

"You left me!" Ryou insisted, a white aura beginning to appear around him, much to Bakura's horror. "You left me alone with that monster! How could you do that, how could you watch me moan and wince the next morning, and pretend you didn't know? How could you do that and still dare to call yourself my friend!?" 

If they'd still been connected through the Ring, Bakura would have tapped into his hikari's thoughts to see what the hell he was yelling about. As it was, he felt almost helpless. Yami and Yugi had backed into a corner of the alley, both of them clearly terrified. Ryou was levetating at least two feet above the ground, and the aura was twice as bright now. 

Bakura leaped to his feet and ran to his aibou, grabbing him by the arm. "Ryou, stop-" 

Ryou turned his face toward him, his face devoid of expression and his blind eyes wide. He looked extremely freaky, even to Bakura's eyes. Ryou grabbed Bakura by the collar, easliy lifting the taller boy off his feet. With a burst of psycic energy, he sent his yami flying into the brick wall. It was obvious he had no idea what he was doing. 

There was a dull crack as Bakura hit the wall, causing Yami's and Yugi's eyes to widen further, if that was possible. Bakura slumped to the alley floor with a soft groan, holding his ribs with both arms and barely concious. 

That taken care of, Ryou turned the full force of his wrath upon the Motos. "How could you!?!" 

With one burst of white light, everything went dark. 

()()()()() 

_meri_ -- beloved 

_sunu_ -- physician, doctor 

Osirus -- duh, Egyptian god. More specifically, Egyptian god of death and the underworld. 

WSJ: O_O;; I'M SCARING MYSELF!!!!!!!!!! *runs away to hide* 

Ryou: *sweatdrops* If you're a fan of Gundam Wing, go check out WSJ's story _Cross of Gold_, especially if you've heard the song of the same name by Micheal W. Smith. 'SJ worked really hard on it, and she'd like reviews. It's kinda angsty though, and it's got a really weird twist at the end... 

Chapter 5: Ok, you've been wondering for two chapters what happened, and here it is! Just how exactly _did_ Yugi save Bakura and Ryou's lives? And what happened to Kuroi? What's this 'Web of Time' I keep talking about? ^_^ All will be answered in chapter 5! Well, except what Ryou did to Yami and Yugi... 

God bless minna-san! 


	5. Web of Time

For reasons the reader cannot quite fathom, WSJ is now a small house fly, and is sitting atop a rather large flower, with a blond-haired chibi tied up with duct tape sitting next to her. Yami-WSJ is sitting behind her hikari and trying not to snicker. 

WSJ: Oh, craters! A plauge on Brood Mayran! She turned me into a house fly and won't change me back!!! This chibi here is Fuu Fuu Choco Taco, Brood's muse, whom I have muse-napped. The flower I'm sitting on is Zutsokaki, or Zutso-miki as I now call him, whom I have again kidnapped. *sweatdrop* In return, Brood has muse-napped Ryou, and Li muse-napped Bakura, but thankfully I need neither for this chapter. Let's hope Brood desides to turn me back soon, because don't flies only live a couple days...? *gulps* 

Zutsokaki: *rustles his petals in an annoyed sort of way* 

Fuu Fuu: *glares* 

Yami-WSJ: *gives in to temptation and falls over laughing* 

WSJ: *sweatdrops again* I don't own YGO, nor do I own Lobsang or Susan. 

()()()()() 

All Saints' Night 

Chapter 5 -- Web of Time 

"M'kay, let's go," Yugi said, taking a deep breath. He had no idea what was going to happen next, but hey! Enough less-then-normal things had happened to him in his life that he'd learned to cope with it. 

Lobsang gave him a smile and turned toward the brick wall at the end of the alley. "Right, now to get us to the Web of Time..." He concentrated, and the wall wavered before disappearing completly. In its place stood a tall door, gilded in brass and gold. Lobsang stepped up to it and pressed a palm flat against it, causing it to swing smoothly inward. He stepped forward, and after one last backward glance at Yami, Yugi followed. 

It had crossed Yugi's mind several times that maybe this was a trick, from someone in the Shadow Realm, but if it carried even a slim chance of helping his yami and friends, even Bakura, then he had to do it. 

Lobsang and Yugi immerged from the door into a huge room, the walls and ceiling of which stretched upward and outward as far and farther then the eye could see. In the center of the room hung what looked like an enormus skeen of thread, pulsating gently with a soft purple light. It hung from millions of strings, which shot away from in in every direction, anchoring to the walls, floor, and, presumably, the ceiling as well. 

Yugi's eyes widened. "What is this?" 

"This is the Web of Time," a female voice answered. A woman stepped out of the shadows to stand next to Lobsang. Her hair was black except for one white streak, and stuck out from her head in a style that rather resembled Yugi's own. She had on a long black robe, and black boots. "My name is Susan Sto Helit, granddaughter of Death." 

"Wait a minute, Death? Granddaughter?" Yugi asked. 

"Yes, Death. You know, tall chap, rather bony? Big scythe? He adopted my mother." Susan said. 

Yugi nodded uncertainly. "Um, okay... What am I supposed to do?" 

Lobsang and Susan exchanged a look. "Untangle it," Susan said simply, gesturing at the ball of tangled threads. 

Yugi's eyes widened. "You mean it's not supposed to be like that?" 

Lobsang shook his head slowly. "No. A woman by the name of Briar-Rose somehow found her way in and tangled it up. The threads are supposed to run in strait lines, connecting thousands of pasts to millions of futures. At times they may merge with or cross over another thread, but they should not be in a huge mess like this!" 

"Everything's going wrong," Susan said quietly. "Even your own time and place are beginning to blur, little Yugi Moto. Things are beginning to creep in at the edges. Time itself is mixxing. Your Puzzle holds the power to unlock it all, and put things back rightly." 

"It does?" 

But the two of them said no more, and when Yugi turned back to look at them, both Susan and Lobsang had disappeared, leaving him with a huge ball of tangled times. He stared at it, his mouth slightly ajar. It would take ages! How much time did he have? 

"As much as needed, little Yugi," Susan's voice rang through the void, though she was no where in sight. "No time at all passes here." 

Yugi took another deep breath, and then set himself and stepped up to the ball, unsure of how to begin. Uncertainly he reached out to grasp a thread- 

_-Cold water, a feeling of change. Holding a blue-haired girl in his arms. Running atop a chain-link fence with a feeling of perfect balance-_

-Yugi gasped and immediatly let go. Was this how it was going to be every time he tried to grab one of those threads? 

"Yes," This time it was Lobsang's voice. "Each thread represents a destiny. A destiny that you must help set itself back onto the right track. You will not need to touch many, just ones that need extra help. Look, they respond to the presence of your Puzzle and already begin to weave their way back where they are supposed to be." 

"But what has my Puzzle got to do with anything?" Yugi yelled into the void. 

"It was forged in the powers of Time itself," Susan again. "Or did you ever stop and ask the Pharoah just how it was he made the Items? Each has, in addition to Shadow Powers, the powers of the element under which the Pharoah forged them. Fate, Time, Death, Passion, War, Hatred, and Desire. Each is a cataclismic force in its own right, and stopping them would be like stopping the sun." 

Yugi gasped. "Which is which? You just said that the Puzzle is Tme-" 

"Desire for the Millenium Eye, for above all its holder desires love. Fate for the Millenium Ring, for the poor innocent was fated to have it." Lobsang again, and Yugi realized he was talking about Ryou and the other Holders. "Passion for the Millenium Ankh, for its Holder is passionate about what he must protect. Death for the Millenium Tauk, for it can see into the future, past death's hold. War for the Millenium Scales, for they were created to delay one. Hatred for the Millenium Rod, because its Holder shows no love. And Time for the Millenium Puzzle, because the Pharoah stands immortal." 

With that Lobsang's voice faded away, and Yugi was again left alone. He swallowed hard, and looked up at the ball of lives. It suddenly seemed smaller, and even as he watched, another thread peeled itself away from the rest and retook its previous course across the room. Yugi squared his shoulders and stepped forward to grasp another thread, now somewhat more confident that he could do it. He reached for the first thread he saw and- 

_-A beating with no mercy, in the middle of the night. The feeling of being completly alone, with no one to care if he lived or died. A fleeting thought of suicide. Darkness, and cold-_

-With a gasp Yugi realized that the thread he held was that of Ryou's destiny, and was tempted for a moment to keep ahold of it, to look forward to Ryou's adulthood, to see what would be. Already images of his friend's future were coming- 

_-Dark, but not the dark of blindness, instead the black of the Shadow Realm. A scream, and the sound of cursing. A feeling of fear, then of courage. The sound of a single gunshot-_

-Yugi jerked back from the thin thread, his heart pounding. "What was it?" he whispered to no one in particular. "What was it trying to tell me? Or was it trying to warn me?" 

"The future cannot be more then hinted at, little Yugi," Susan's voice drifted to him. "You must take what you have and remember it. Heed it. It _was_ a warning." 

Yugi waited, but Susan said no more. With a sigh Yugi got back to work. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

_-A lone figure standing against a painted sunset. A flippant smirk. A toss of the head which sent a long brown braid flapping. 'Omae wo korosu'...-_

-Yugi wiped his forehead on his sleeve and looked up to see that the thread he had just placed was the last. He stared in amazment. It was done. The web was as it was supposed to be. 

"Well done, little Yugi," 

Yugi whirled to see Lobsang and Susan standing behind him, their proud grins making it all worth it. "How long did it take?" he asked with a sudden pang of worry. 

Lobsang chuckled. "No fear Yugi, no time passes here, remember? But for the record, if there were seconds and minutes, it would have taken you a little over three days." 

Yugi stared at him in shock. Three _days_?! "Really?" 

Susan nodded, allowing a rare smile onto her face. "Yes really. Now that time is as it should be, Kuroi is no longer still alive, and the spells he placed on your two friends will be wearing off. So I suggest that you get back there." 

"Yami's all right?" 

Lobsang nodded as he led him back toward the big doors. "Yes, he is fine. You've been gone for less then a second, so be prepared!" 

And with that they were gone. 

Yugi stood in the alley, right where he'd been when Lobsang had sliced time. Yami was in front of him, looking around in puzzlement. "Where's Kuroi? He was here only a moment ago..." 

"Less then a second, I'd say," Yugi remarked, a wave of releif washing over him. "I-I guess things went back to the way they're supposed to be." 

Yami gave him a long look, and opened his mouth to say something, when Bakura groaned. Yugi sighed in releif, and Yami shot him a look. "You can tell me later." the Pharoah said before striding over to drop to one knee beside the tomb robber. "Bakura?" 

Bakura groaned again, and his eyes fluttered open. "What happened Pharoah?" he growled, sitting up on the hard ground and swiping a hand across hsi eyes. 

Yami gave Yugi another half-amused look before answering his old nemesis. "I do not know, I-" He was interrupted as Ryou shifted slightly and moaned. 

Ryou suddenly jerked completly awake, as well as upright, his dull eyes skittering about wildly. He let out a muffle cry, and Yami put a gentle hand over his mouth to quiet him. "You're safe Ryou," he assured the hikari. "Don't worry, you're back in our time, where you belong." 

Ryou jerked away from him, causing Yugi to blink in surprise. "Ryou?" 

"Y-You betrayed me!" Ryou accused, pointing an unsteady finger in the general direction of the Motos. 

"Betrayed you? I just saved your life!" Yugi said incredulously, confirming Yami's suspicions that he had, indeed, done something. 

"You left me!" Ryou yelled, tears in his eyes. A white aura began to form around him, lifting him off the ground as he flung his arms wide. "You left me alone with that monster! How could you do that, how could you watch me moan and wince the next morning, and pretend you didn't know? How could you do that and still dare to call yourself my friend?!" 

Half-terrified and half-amazed, Yami grabbed Yugi and sheilded his hikari behind him, backing up until Yugi felt the hard stone of the wall press into his shoulder blades. No longer was there a gold door there, just an impenetrable wall. 

Ryou was levetating about two feet off the ground, and dimly Yugi was aware of Bakura calling to his aibou. "Ryou, stop!" There was a sickening crack, and Yugi tore his eyes away from his enraged friend to watch in horror as Bakura collided with the wall and fell, barely concious. 

"How could you!?!" 

After a brilliant flash of white, all was dark. 

()()()()() 

WSJ-the-Housefly: Okay, fine, so I did need Bakura and Ryou, but only for a bit, and I already had it written out twice before, so it was no big deal. *waves at Fuu Fuu Choco Taco wih one of her front legs* Hey Fuu, since Zutsokaki's a flower, would it be possible for me to pollinate him? 

Fuu Fuu: *looks rather sickened* 

Yami-WSJ: Aibou, even _I_ think that's too gross... I really hope Brood changes you back soon... Is there any way we can get her to hurry up? 

WSJ: *ponders* Go read and review her awesome story _Another Chance at Everything_. Bug her to put the next chapter up, because she said she won't change me back until she does. 

Chapter 6: Just what was it that Ryou did?! Can Bakura, who's pretty badly hurt, talk some sence into his hikari before he does something trully horrible? 

God bless minna-san! 


	6. Fallen Angels

Unfortunatly for the authoress, two days have passed and Brood has yet to turn her back into a human. Needless to say, WSJ is getting annoyed, and is hopping around on the keyboard, venting some frustration as she types. Zutsokaki is in a glass of water, and Yami-WSJ is on the floor, wrestling with Fuu Fuu Choco Taco. 

Fuu Fuu: *pins Yami-WSJ to the ground* Ha! Me win again! ^_^ 

Yami-WSJ: *pretends to scowl* Aw, well, I let ya' win... 

Fuu Fuu: ^___^ I'll bet... 

WSJ: *casts an annoyed look at the two* I think they're bonding... You know, you two could always help type! This isn't exactly easy! *sighs* Even Heero'd be _some_ help right now... I'd jus' tell him it was a mission... ^-^; But alas, Brood has muse-napped him too... It almost has me _wishing_ ShadowWolf and her yami were around... *realizes what she just said, and flies enraged at the camera* BROOOOOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CHANGE ME BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M LOSING MY MIND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Yami-WSJ: *giving Fuu Fuu a sisterly noogee* WSJ doesn't own YGO. 

()()()()() 

All Saints' Night 

Chapter 6 -- Fallen Angels... 

"Ryou... Please, aibou, stop..." 

Bakura struggled to his feet, wheezing heavily, his left arm hanging useless at his side. His hikari still floated in front of him, "staring" down at the Motos with vacant eyes. Yugi was slumped against the back wall, apparently unhurt, but obviously neither the soul of the Pharoah nor the hikari were in there. At Bakura's rasping call, Ryou turned his head to face his yami, an unreadable expression on his features. 

"They betrayed me," he said, his voice an emotionless monotone. "They deserved what they got." 

"How can you say that?" Bakura asked, slumping against the wall. His left arm was numb from the shoulder down, although it did take the initiative to throb painfully every now and then. Probably a result of a broken or dislocated shoulder. He was certain he'd cracked, probably broken, several ribs, and his right knee and ankle were giving him trouble too. 

Bakura wobbled slightly on his feet, and dropped to his knees, still staring at his aibou. Ryou looked so much different then Bakura had ever seen him! He looked... Cold, unfeeling, almost heartless. "They're your friends!" Bakura insisted again, willing himself to get through to this boy. 

Ryou's eyes seemed to waver uncertainly, and for a moment they cleared. And they were scared. "Bakura!" Ryou whimpered. "H-help me! Sh-she's-" But whatever he was about to say was lost when his eyes again became cold. 

"No, they are _not_ my friends. They never were. And neither are you." 

Bakura was shocked at this turn on events. Surly this wasn't the sweet blind boy he'd known for the past two months! His mind flashed back to that morning two months ago, when he'd first realized Ryou was blind, when he'd had that over-whelming sense of guilt... The first real feeling he'd had in over five-thousand years. And when he'd almost lost Ryou to the Shadow Realm... That had been the worst. That had torn Bakura, both heart and soul. 

An expression of puzzlement wafted across Ryou's face. "Your mind is in turmoil, why?" 

Bakura paused to wonder just how it was that Ryou could read his mind, and then chalked it up to his seemingly growing psycic powers. "Why? Why?! Because you just un-soulified your best friend and his other! Because you actually hurt me! Because you're-" Bakura stopped, an expression of horror on his face. "So much... Like... Me..." 

He was suddenly taken back farther, almost against his own will. The very first time he'd ever beat little Ryou, when the kid had only been six. Even back then, Bakura had been bigger and stronger then him. And later, the most brutal beating Bakura'd ever given him, (save the one that left Ryou blind) on Halloween of last year, just after Player Killer's assult on Yami, after everyone else had gone to bed. And so many other times... So many other beatings... 

There was a wetness in Bakura's eyes as Ryou smirked at him, the cruel expression looking so out of place on the gentle boy's face. "So now you know what it looks like to stare into the face of a monster, Bakura, let's just see if you can find out how it feels too!" 

And with that, Ryou desended on his yami, sending a barrage of psycic blasts at him with an accuracy and strength Bakura hadn't known he possessed. Ryou easily lifted him off the ground, and threw him into the wall again, casing several more cracks to echo through Bakura's slim frame. Ryou pinned him there, and licked his lips, a victorious grin on his face. "There now, that wasn't so bad, was it? Although we can easily arrange it to be so," 

Bakura could do little more then groan in responce, which he did. Ryou cackled and closed his right hand into a fist, using his powers to crush Bakura's right leg, causing the ex-spirit to scream and writhe in pain. "Wh-why Ryou? Why are you doing this?" Bakura stopped to cough violently, nearly choking on the blood that filled his mouth as he did. 

"Why?" Ryou asked, still sneering as he hovered over his other. "Because all my life I've been kicked around. If not by you, then by Ushio or other bullies at school. But no more. I have the power, and now I will use it to destroy all those who ever hurt me!" 

"You never believed in that before," Bakura coughed again, but forced himself to continue. "You always told me that with great power comes great responcibility, remember?" 

"Yes," Ryou sneered. "And whenever I said that it just made you hurt me more. I will not stand for it again!" With that he released his hold on Bakura, sending him to the ground in a crumpled heap. Bakura cried out again, and struggled to raise his head. 

"But hikari," Bakura said, almost pleading. "I haven't hurt you! Not anymore! Ryou, you mean the world to me, and you know it! I don't let anyone else hurt you either! Remember what I did to Ushio after he beat you so badly? Do you remember how I got this scar?" Bakura raised his right hand, with only a bit of effort, to point at the scar that ran along his cheek, which he'd aquired in the knife-fight with Ushio. 

Ryou's eyebrows knit together in confusion, and Bakura remembered with a jolt that Ryou couldn't see him. But surely he must know what Bakura ment! Slowly Ryou blinked his cloudy brown eyes, and with a start Bakura realized what had been nagging him all along. Of course Ryou's eyes were cloudy from the blindness, but usually they had a certain innocent sparkle to them as well. But now they didn't. They were just... Blank... 

"Ryou?" Bakura asked as a tear slid down his cheek. It ran into a newly-formed cut on his jaw, and he hissed at the pain of salt in the wound, but ignored it as more tears fell. "Aibou?" 

"I-I remember..." 

Suddenly his eyes lost their cloudiness, save the usual dull sheen of blindness, and regained their sparkle. Ryou began to feel tears of his own gather in his eyes. With a muffled sob he let his psycic powers drop and fell to his knees next to his yami. "Oh Bakura! What have I done to you?!" 

"Shhh..." Bakura soothed, ignoring the pain in his ribs and arm as he let Ryou cradle him close, allowing his aibou to sob into his chest. "Nothing that cannot be mended. Although I don't think I'll ever quite walk the same again..." He looked down at his right leg, which was now a mass of cuts and bruises and shattered bone, and he was pretty sure his knee wasn't supposed to bend in that direction. 

This admition just caused Ryou to cry harder, but finally he was able to raise his head. "It wasn't me Bakura! I promise! This wicked lady took over and-and I couldn't fight her! Oh Bakura, gomen nasai!" 

Bakura smiled slightly, happy that Ryou couldn't see just how bad he'd been hurt. He was beginning to feel weak, and knew he'd pass out soon. "It's okay, aibou. Now please, think. What did you, or she, or whoever, do with Yami and Yugi?" He didn't know what his hikari meant by 'she', but doubtless it could wait. There were more important things to think of at the moment. 

Ryou gasped and his dull eyes widened slightly. "Yugi! I-I think he and Yami are in the Ring... Or something..." 

"Can you get them back into their body Ryou? I don't think I can stay awake much longer, and you need someone else here with you." 

Ryou nodded tearfully. "I-I'll try." He concentrated, and across the alley Yugi's body gave a small spasm and began to cough. 

Bakura smiled weakly and let his head drop against his hikari's chest. "Good..." he said faintly. "Arigato Ryou..." He was quiet a moment, and just when Ryou was about to burst into tears again, he spoke up. "R-Ryou," his voice was much weaker. "I never told you... What happened... In the Shadow Realm," 

"No, you didn't Bakura," Ryou said, hugging his other tighter and causing him to wince in protest. "You said you would when we were both ready." 

"Yes, and- Oh curses on mortal bodies!" Bakura coughed again, longer and harder, bringing up more blood as he did. Finally he was able to continue. "You were on an alter, and I cast a spell... To switch our places, so that you would survive... No matter... No matter what..." 

Ryou's eyes widened and he teared up again. "Oh Bakura! Bakura? Bakura! Please aibou, wake up! Onegai, don't leave me! Please Bakura! You can't!" The white-haired hikari collapsed into sobs, and it was only when he felt Yugi pulling him away from his yami that he finally gave in to the sudden exhaution that surrounded him. 

~*~ 

_They were in a cold place, filled with shadows and bits of broken glass, huge bits, that stuck up from the ground like jagged mirrors. They stood back to back, white feathers tangling around black dragon wings. One was slightly taller, but other then that they were identical. Both stood with their heads bowed and eyes closed, almost as if in prayer, leaning back against the other for support. Though neither opened their eyes or moved their mouths, their words echoed through the void around them, filling in the empty silence. _

'Is this what it is like to be dead?' 

'No, although I almost wish it were. We still have time left, I think.' 

Both were silent for a moment, and then: 'I almost wish we were dead.' 

'As do I. As do all, I think, at one time or another. But who knows, maybe we still have a part to play.' 

Silence reigned once more, and then the taller one began to muse, almost to himself, not quite speaking to his companion. 

'Fate, Time, Death, War, Hatred, Passion, and Desire. The most powerful things there are. Who knew we would be trapped by Fate?' 

'Fate. Pah, don't speak to me about Fate!' the other objected. 'Fate curses me! She makes my life miserable!' 

'Fate brought us together aibou.' 

The two figures turned to face each other, their wings sweeping around behind them. They clasped their hands together in front of them, and smiled at each other, their eyes opened now. 

'Yes, I suppose, if you want to be technical about it...' 

~*~ 

"What happened to them?" Yugi asked in fear. As soon as he and Yami had woken up, they'd seen Ryou on the ground, clutching somthing close to him and screaming incoherantly with tears running down his face. When they'd gotten closer they'd seen it to be a badly beaten Bakura. When Yugi had put his hand on Ryou's shoulder to pull him away, the Blind One had collapsed aginst him and gone limp. 

"I don't know, aibou," Yami said. "And I wish I did. This bodes ill on my heart. Just before Ryou attacked us, I felt a flash of power. It was almost like the energy signature I get when Malik uses the Rod to control another person's mind. But it wasn't exactly. I think there was someone controling Ryou, but it wasn't Malik," 

Yugi quietly let out the breath he'd been holding. Over the past months Malik and his yami had relented much of their heartlessness, and were even coming to be considered friends, as far as Yugi was concerned. He didn't want to think what would happen if Malik suddenly fell into another bought of insanity. "We have to get them inside," 

Yami nodded, agreeing with his hikari whole-heartedly. "Yes. Come aibou, I think the Ishtars are the closest to here, are they not?" 

Yugi nodded after glancing up at the street-sign that hung at the mouth of the alley. "Yeah. Let's hope Malik and Isis are willing to let us crash there tonight, I'm bone tired," He saw his yami's face and laughed, although it was strained. "Yami, I know how you feel about them! But please, I think I'll collapse if I try to walk back to the Game Shop! And besides, Yami-Malik helped you out rescuing Mokuba, _and_ he's the one who got Bakura and Ryou out of the Shadow Realm. He can't be all bad! And besides, Bakura changed." 

Yami sighed and nodded his concent, carefully lifting Bakura into his arms, not wanting to injure the tomb robber further. "All right aibou, but only because I don't want you to collapse on your way back to the Game Shop," The fomer pharoah suddenly noticed a slight problem. "Yugi..." 

Yugi looked up from where he'd been trying to hoist Ryou over his shoulder. "What?" 

"You can't carry him!" Yami said, shaking his head and laughing a little. 

"He's not that heavy!" Yugi protested. "Really! Besides, it's not like you can carry him and Bakura too," 

"Um... Hikari?" Yami's eyes were wide, and Yugi gasped when he noticed what his other was staring at. Slung over Yugi's shoulder, Ryou was glowing white, ever so slightly. His quiet voice suddenly penetrated their thoughts. 

_I can levetate slightly to make myself easier for Yugi to carry. Hurry, I'm tired..._ Ryou's voice faded, but the glow stayed, and Yugi realized that it did indeed feel a bit like Ryou was floating. "How...?" 

_'I will explain later, when we are safe. Please Yugi, Yami, I am so tired..._

Yugi blinked, then looked up at Yami, his face set, and nodded. 

Yami sighed, but saw no way around it, and set off at an as brisk pace as he could manage. He tried not to jar Bakura around too much, for even though he didn't necessarily like the theif, it was obvious that he was in a lot of pain. 

After about five minutes, they reached the little white house that Yami had always thought looked just _too_ innocent, considering who lived in it. To the Motos' intense relief, there was a light on in the livingroom, and another in one of the upstairs bedrooms, signaling that one person, at least, was still awake. Yami began to furvently pray that it was Isis. 

Apparently Yugi senced this, and sent his other an exhasperated look as they reached the pourch. Yugi, who really only needed one hand to balance Ryou over his shoulder, pounded on the door. It was opened after a moment by Malik, who looked like he was about to offer a stinging retort, until he saw who it was. 

The Egyptian's eyes widened, and he hurridly stepped aside and gestured for them to come in. "What happened to them?" 

"We don't know," Yami grunted as he lay Bakura down on the couch. "We found them that way," 

"Well, not exactly," Yugi sighed, propping Ryou up in a sitting possition beside the couch where Bakura lay. "A lot has happened tonite... We're hoping Ryou can answer our questions when he wakes up. It doesn't seem like he's hurt at all, just exhausted," 

Ishtar suddenly matirialized next to his hikari, causing the Motos to jump slightly. "This is bad..." he said, frowning down at the tomb robber. "Isis is gonna kill us for getting blodd-stains on the couch... Again..." 

Malik rolled his eyes and hit his yami over the head, causing Ishtar to mock-glare at him. "Aibou...." 

Yugi's eyes widened and he shushed them both, pointing at the couch. Ryou had shifted around so that he was facing his yami, and he'd opened his eyes as well. Ryou reached out a hand and gently rested it on Bakura's fore-head, and he began to glow slightly with a light-blue aura. Ishtar gasped and Malik yelped a little at this, but Yami and Yugi quickly shushed them again. 

In the silence, Yugi, Malik, and their yamis became aware of music drifting down to them from upstairs, where Isis was apparently listening to the radio. Each of the four marveled slightly at how the song seemed to fit the situation, and blended perfectly into the scene they were watching in front of them. 

_God will save His fallen angels,   
And their broken wings, He'll mend.   
When He draws their hearts together,   
And they learn to love again.   
All their sins will be forgiven,   
In the twinkle of an eye.   
All the saints rejoice in heaven,   
When the fallen angels fly._

Bakura's various cuts and scrapes were beginning to heal, mending his broken body. His leg straitened and healed as well, and the fingers on his right hand twitched slightly as feeling came back. Bakura coughed violently, and his eyes cracked open. The first thing he saw was Ryou, and he smiled. "Ari-arigato, aibou..." 

Ryou smiled back at him. "Doitashimashite, mou hitori no boku," 

"Gomen nasai," 

Ryou looked vaguely surprised, but then grinned. "Yoroshii..." 

Behind them, the other four were in slight shock. The clock chiming brought them out of the seeming-trance they had fallen into, and Malik nudged Yugi in the ribs. The smaller boy looked at him questioningly, and to his surprise, Malik chuckled. The blond Egyptian grinned at Yugi and pointed at the clock. 

"It's midnight again," 

()()()()() 

Ryou & Bakura's convo: 

Bakura: Th-thank you, aibou...   
Ryou: You're welcome, my other half.   
Bakura: I'm sorry.   
Ryou: It's okay. 

~*~ 

Okie-day, incase you didn't catch the meaning of the last line (or you haven't read VotH), what Malik said was something of a private joke. During chapter 15 of VotH, Malik makes a comment to Yugi that everything always seems to happen to them at midnight. 

WSJ: *oogles at the spiffy long-ness of the chapter* HOLY KURIBOH!!!! *falls over in buggy exhausion and begins to wheeze* So tired... Wanna keel... Over... 

Zutsokaki: *snorts* If you die, will the story continue? 

WSJ: Er, no... 

Zutsokaki: *brightens up* Die, die, die, die! 

WSJ: -.-;; I'm beginning to see what Brood ment when she called you a 'kick in the side'... *sighs* Reviews people! I would have had this up sooner, but my dad banned me from the internet for being on too long... 

Chapter 7: Conclusion!!! All is well again, things get explained, and Yugi gets worried... 

God bless minna-san! 


	7. All's Well That Ends Well

The scene opens on chaos. Yami-WSJ has Zutsokaki (still a flower) in her hands, and is running madly from a Man-Eater Bug. WSJ (still a house fly) and Fuu Fuu Choco Taco are dodging thrusts sent at them by a giant Man-Eater Plant. 

Yami-WSJ: AIBOU! You are a complete and utter moron!!! Just WHY did you go against Brood's warning and pull the kuso string?! 

WSJ: Because I _thought_ Brood was too nice to actually send a Man-Eater Bug & Plant after us! 

Zutsokaki: *snorts* You? Maybe. Me and the chibi over there? She'd feed us to them in a second! 

Mystery Voise: Hey! I would not! You may be a pain, but I wouldn't _intentionally_ harm you... 

In a corner of the room, a door that no one had noticed before opened. Heero (Gundam Wing) and Ryou walk out, followed by none other then Brood Mayran herself. Brood sees the chaos and raises an eyebrow in WSJ's direction. 

Brood: You just had to pull the string, didn't you... 

WSJ: *growls as well as a bug can* Shut up you! I swear, I was being controlled! 

Brood: *snorts* Sure, likely story... 

Malik: *snickers in the shadows and strokes the Rod lovingly* Prrrrreeessssssssssiiiiiiiiiioooooouuuuuussssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss... 

Ryou: *blinks* Did you just hear a Gollum-esque voise coming from the shadows? 

Brood: -.-;; Yes, and I have a good idea of who it is... Hey Heero, go flush 'im out for me, m'kay? 

Heero: Mission accepted. *cocks his gun and heads for the shadows* 

WSJ: You know Brood, it'd be nice if you helped instead of standing there ordering the muses around. 

Brood: Aw, poor 'SJ... Would you feel better if I stood around snickering instead? *does so* 

Yami-WSJ: -_-; That's it! I'm taking us all into the Shadow Realm! *the shadows around the room begin to deepen* 

WSJ: Have you cracked Yami?! That'll make this stupid Plant & Bug even stronger!!! And besides, you're forgetting that sixth-sevenths of the people in this room are mortal!! I dunno if it'd effect Fuu Fuu or not, but I doubt you're very eager to find out, and furthermore- *stops and blows a rasberry as her yami finishes taking them to the Shadow Realm* Omae wo korosu! 

Heero: *from somewhere in the shadows* Hey, that's my line... And now I get to say it! Omae wo korosu! *sounds of gunshots and wild yelling are heard* 

Yami-WSJ: *continuing like the 01 pilot hadn't spoken* Oh yes, it'll make the Bug & Plant stronger, but it also allows me to summon my own monsters that much easier. *pulls a Duel Monsters deck out of her pocket* 

WSJ: *_* I was wondering where that got to when I turned into a bug... 

Yami-WSJ: *draws a card* I summon the Celtic Guardian! Help us out here Celtie! 

Celtic Guardian: *looks vaguly annoyed* Celtie? What do I look like, a bishonen? 

Brood: *clears her throat* Actually, yes... 

WSJ: Just shut up and help us, will you!? 

Celtic Guardian: Jeez, see if I ever respond to your commands again... *grumbles, but proceeds to slice up the Man-Eater Plant. The Bug, however, presents something more of a challenge* I can't attack it or it'll eat me!!! 

Zutsokaki: *gets excited* Hey! Let's throw Brood & WSJ to it! Maybe then it'll be so full it'll leave the rest of us alone! 

Brood & WSJ: *.*;; Thanks a lot Zutso!!! 

Ryou: *chuckles dispite himself, and draws a card from his own deck* I summon the Change of Heart to turn the Buggy-thing to our side. *Change of Heart appears, winks at Ryou, then disappears into the Man-Eater Bug. It immediatly becomes tame* 

Brood: *casting a side-ways glance at Ryou* Ya' know, it's really very intresting how you were able to know that that was the Change of Heart card without your sight... 

Ryou: @.@; Yes, it was, wasn't it... Er, psycic powers? 

Brood: *shrugs* Good enough for me... 

Heero: *hauls Malik into the center of the room, holding the Rod in his other hand* I do believe this is what you wanted, Miss Brood? 

Brood: Ah yes, arigato Heero. Mission complete. 

Heero: STOP STEALING MY LINES!!!!!! *sees everyone staring at him and sweatdrops* Er... 

WSJ: *sighs* See, I told you Brood! MALIK made me pull the string! Can I be human again now? Pleeeeease? *gives Brood puppy-dog eyes* 

Brood: Aarg! Yes, yes, hai!!! Just don't look at me like that!!! Puppy-dog eyes look really disturbing on a fly, and besides, it makes you look too kuso much like Tea!! *snaps her fingers* 

WSJ: *now human again* YAY!!!!!!! BROOD-SAMA, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! *begins to do the Happy-Authoress Dance* 

Brood: *sweatdrop* *gets hit on the back of the head* Hey! 

Zutsokaki: *now also human* Took you long enough... 

Ryou: *sighs* Chaos supreme... Even _without_ rampaging Duel Monsters... WSJ still doesn't own YGO. On to the last chapter of ASN! 

()()()()() 

All Saints' Night 

Chapter 7 -- All's Well That Ends Well 

"Ryou?" 

Ryou turned his head slightly to acknowledge Yugi's quiet question. "Hm?" 

"What the hell did you just do?!" 

Yami's jaw dropped. "Aibou!" 

Ryou was quiet a minute. "To be perfectly honest, I'm not entirely sure. I knew Bakura was hurt, and the power was just _there_, so..." 

"Is that what you did earlier too?" Yugi asked. "What _is_ it anyway?" 

"Psycic manifestation," Bakura supplied. "We recently found out that Ryou's a pcyche. He can teleport, speak mentally, create force-blasts, give and receive visions, perceive the future, cause himself and other objects to levetate, and, apparently, heal. We really don't know how much he can do, or how strong, " he paused, then cleared his throat. "There was also one instance where he was able to erase very select memories in a lot of people and plant false ones in their place. That left him extremly exhausted," 

Bakura watched as a look of slight amazment dawned on each of their faces, one by one, as they realized what he was referring to. 

"So what happened in the alley to make you so mad?" Yami asked. 

Ryou was quiet for a moment as he senced the questioning stares of Bakura, Malik and Yugi, and their yamis on him. "I-I'm not sure... I had some sort of a dream/flash-backie thing, and-" 

"Whoa, hold up," Bakura said, pulling himself into a sitting possition. "You had one too?" 

"_You_ did?" 

Bakura pretended to scowl. "I asked you first, but yeah, I did. Of my life back in ancient Egypt," He said no more about it. 

"Mine was..." Ryou ducked his head slightly. "Of last Halloween, at Duelist Kingdom..." 

Bakura let out a long, low whistle and pulled his hikari into a hug. "Oh aibou... I'm so sorry you had to relive that..." There was a pained expression on his face. "If I could go back and undo that day, I would!" 

Ryou sniffled and nodded into Bakura's chest. "I-I know," 

Yugi was frowning slightly in thought, and suddenly memory kicked him in the head, causing him to gasp. "Oh great Gaia! _That_ night! No wonder you attacked us for betrayal..." He dropped his head in shame, and even Yami looked remorseful. 

"What did you do?" Bakura asked sharply, hugging Ryou closer to him. 

A flash of indignation appeared on Yami's face, but he quickly forced it down. Yugi spoke up before the pharoah could. "We saw what happened, and watched... But we didn't do anything about it, because at the time we couldn't! You've got to believe us!" 

"I do," Ryou said quietly, pulling away from Bakura a little. "It just hurt that you didn't even say anything... And then when _she_ told me to attack you, I just sort-of snapped... Please forgive me," 

Yugi's eyes widened slightly. "_You're_ asking _us_ to forgive _you_?!" But he was quickly overpowered by Yami, Ishtar, and Bakura's combined "Her?" 

Ryou nodded to both questions, and shuddered slightly. "Yes. _She_ told me to kill you, Yami, because you ruined her love life, or some such thing. And you, Bakura, because she wanted revenge. And I, I couldn't stop her!" He looked ready to burst into tears. 

"It's okay aibou," Bakura quickly assured him. "They're fine, so am I, thanks to you. But who is _she_? Do you know?" 

The Blind One shook his head, his bangs flopping into his face. "No, I don't. _She_ just said that she wanted revenge, because you wrecked her plans," 

Bakura drew in a sharp breath, and then let it hiss out through his teeth. "Briar-Rose, I'll bet," he growled. "She used the same sort of mind-control spell on Kaiba when we were in the Shadow Realm..." 

"Briar-Rose?!" Yami's eyes widened. "She's in the Shadow Realm?" 

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Bakura asked, blinking at the Spirit of the Puzzle. 

Yami pressed his lips together and leaned back in the chair he'd dragged in from the kitchen. "In Egypt Briar-Rose was, believe it or no, a preistess to the god Set. Second-Highest, if I remember correctly. Ringing any bells?" 

Bakura groaned. "Right, Kaiba was High Preist... So you think they had an affair or something?" 

"Actually, yes," Yami said. "That's why Kaiba, er, Seth, started to go bad. It was the influence of Briar-Rose. I sent Seth to the Shadow Realm, and she must have been able to tag along. If she's working for the Shadow Realm, then we could be in trouble," He seemed to think of something, and sat up straiter. "But how would you know about her Bakura?" 

Ishtar looked back and forth between the two of them curiously, and finally spoke up. "You never did explain what happened in the Shadow Realm during the Locking Rituals, Bakura. Maybe it's time you did." 

Bakura closed his eyes a moment, then shook his head slowly. "No, not now. But I will say this much: Briar-Rose was the one who pin-pointed Ryou as the heart she wanted, and she was mind-controlling Kaiba to make him do the sacrifice." He inclined his head slightly to Ishtar. "You got us out literally just in time," 

Through this Yami's frown had been deepening, and now he sighed. "Well, we can't do anything about it right now... But I do have another question," To the surprise of everyone else, he turned toward his hikari. "What did _you_ do Yugi? I know you helped out somehow," 

Yugi blinked and looked back and forth around the circle of faces. "I helped mend time," he said in all seriousness. No one laughed, so he continued. "This guy named Lobsang showed up and told me I had to fix this 'Web of Time' thingamajigger. It was all tangled up, and I had to straiten it out. He told me that I was the only one who could help, because my Puzzle was forged in Time itself," 

Malik was nodding slowly. "Right, I remember that... 'Ring, Rod, Puzzle, Tauk, Eye, Scales, Ankh. Fate, Hatred, Time, Death, Desire, War, Passion.' Was that it?" 

Yugi nodded, slightly in awe, while both Yami and Ishtar gave the blond long looks. "How could you know that?" Yami asked. 

Malik snorted and turned around in his chair, pulling his shirt over his head and reveiling the hiroglyphics scored into his back. "Section 2, paragraph 6," he said dryly. 

"Oh..." 

Ishtar chuckled and smacked Malik's shoulder. "Put your shirt back on hikari, I think you're making the almighty pharoah get grossed out," 

"No way," Yami said indignantly, but Malik put his shirt back on anyway, much to the displeasure of the fangirls. 

"So Kuroi's really dead?" Yami asked, and Yugi nodded. 

"The only reason he came back was because time got all screwed up." 

Thinking about time, and in particular, the Web of Time, Yugi began to worry. The things he'd seen and heard while he held Ryou's string worried him. Particularly that gunshot. He hadn't senced any pain, but that didn't mean that no one was hurt. He'd have to stick close to Ryou to make sure nothing happened to him. Maybe he'd talk to Yami and see what he thought... 

In the silence that followed, Ryou spoke up. "I have a question," 

"What is it?" Ishtar asked. 

There was a pause, punctured by a yawn from Yugi. Ryou chuckled. "Case in point. Can we go to sleep?" 

Malik blinked and jumped up. "Oh gosh, yeah. Sorry. Ryou, you and Bakura can have the guest room, and there's a pull-out couch in the den for Yugi." 

There were thanks all around, and then Yugi and Ryou phoned home to say they were spending the night at a friend's. Twenty minutes later everyone were on their way to their various rooms/soulrooms, doing their best to ignore the loud music blasting from Isis's room. "Does she always sleep with loud music?" Bakura asked just before he entered the guest room behind Ryou. 

Malik chuckled. "No, not usually. Kaiba's probably over again," 

Bakura sputtered, nearly choking on his own spit. "Wha'? Wh-which Kaiba?" 

"Seto," Malik said, grinning at the theif's discomfort. "In his false form," He desided that Bakura was already disturbed enough, so he might as well go all the way. "When they do it that way, chances of getting pregnant are zero," The Egyptian nearly fell over laughing as the usually-infallible Bakura turned a rather unplesent shade of green at this thought. 

"What's so funny?" Yugi asked, coming out of the bathroom. 

To everyone's surprise, Ryou poked his head out of the guest room and said, "Now that's what I call 'Sweating to the Oldies'," He then inserted a rather steamy mental picture into everyone's minds, and even Malik looked a little sickened. Bakura on the other hand... 

"AIBOU!?! Since when are yo such a hentai?!" 

Ryou shrugged, winking at the room in general. "Oh, since I lost my physical sight, I have to do _something_ to occupy my mind..." 

Ishtar went pale. "You mean, right at this moment, they're _actually_-" 

Yami frowned and placed his hands over Yugi's ears. "That is enough, all of you, I will not have my hikari disturbed in this way..." 

Ryou again snickered. "In that case, you wouldn't want to see the memories I'm getting from your aibou's mind. You are aware, aren't you Yugi, that you're practically shouting telepathicly? You may be able to shut out Yami, but you didn't think about anyone else," 

Yugi blushed crimson to the roots of his hair. "A-am I?" 

"Oh yes," Ryou said, grinning rather sadisticly. "Hm... Joey + Tristan + a certain video that I do believe you shouldn't have been watching..." 

Yugi blushed further and his eyes widened. "Shutup-shutup-shutup!" 

Ryou laughed and turned around, closing the door to the guest room before anyone else could say anything. There was silence, and then Bakura spoke up rather sheepishly. "Spending too much time around me, I guess..." 

"TOMB ROBBER!!!!!!!" With that, Yami dived at said tomb robber. 

In the guest room, Ryou leaned against the door and smiled at the crashes coming from the other side. He chuckled lightly to himself. "I just may be called upon to heal again tonight..." The Blind One paused and listed to the music still coming from Isis's room, although it had now quieted somewhat. He smiled and quietly sang along with the well-known (at least to him) lyrics. Thank Ra they were no longer true about his life... 

_Distraught with tears, I wander with aimless stares   
Does it matter where I am? Nobody cares… _

Bleeding hearts weep crimson tears   
Please take away my pain and fears 

Crouching near dead bodies galore   
Hysteria envelops the surrounding gore 

Giggles ensure every now and then   
Blocking me reality, my only true friend 

Hidden violence is revealed   
Close the door, my soul is sealed… 

And so continues the lives of the far-from-normal occupants of Domino City... 

()()()()() 

WSJ: Hey, Yami, you can get us out of the Shadow Realm any time now... 

Yami-WSJ: *snickers* Why should I? It's too much fun to see you mortals suffer... 

Over in one corner Celtie the Celtic Guardain is being glomped by Fuu Fuu. Heero is making friends with the Man-Eater Bug. Ryou and Brood are discussing something or other with Malik tied up at their feet, and Zutsokaki is standing by himself and looking sulky. 

WSJ: *sighs deeply* Anyway, I hope ya'll liked ASN. I'd like to now invite you over to _Sacrifice of Shadows_, where the third story of the trilogy is currently underway. Arigato! *bows* Now see here yami... 

God bless minna-san! 


End file.
